Information regarding the business sector.
Telephone company Nuevatel invested Bs210 million ($30.4 million) to renew its operating licences for the provision of mobile and internet services. This investment is in addition to others made in 2019, such as the deployment of a LTE network for home internet, in addition to the LTE service of Nuevatel which covers at least 170 municipal capitals, reported the company.
The new president of Bolivia’s Mutun Steel Company (ESM), Milko Alberto Moreno, reported that the state-owned company plans to produce and export ferromanganese for about $250 million a year. He explained that the huge iron deposit in Mutun, located in the province of German Busch in the department of Santa Cruz, has large reserves of manganese that will be evaluated through a prospecting study. Ferromanganese is a ferroalloy used in the world’s steel industry to improve the strength and hardness of steel.
Despite the political situation, Telecommunications companies maintain their dynamism, due to the high consumption in data, according to different rating agencies. State-owned Entel has a 45.4% market share, Tigo by 37.6% and Viva Nuevatel 16.9%.
Bolivia’s government named Herland Soliz Montenegro as new CEO for state oil company YPFB. Soliz replaces Jose Luis Rivero who left the office after announced that YPFB is in economic bankruptcy, although he retracted later on this statement. However, oil and gas experts warned that YPFB is going through economic difficulties as a result of a continuing expansion on spending and negative results in exploration and unprofitable industrialisation projects.
BancoSol will raise its fix income deposit rate to 5% to incentivise savings and have enough resources to support micro and small businesses in Bolivia. The new rates will run throughout December, and the term will be equal or greater than 370 days with a minimum deposit of $10,000.
Since December 2, the Internet rates of the Home Plan of the State – Owned National Telecommunications Company (Entel) have dropped by at least 41%, thanks to the implementation of a fibre optic system that will save $12 million in operating costs.
Industrias Quantum Motors S.A. will be the first electrical car maker in Bolivia and, after receiving the certificate to produce cars from the Government, plans to sell more than 1,000 electrical vehicles across the country. Carlos Soruco, founding partner of the company said that there are existing orders for 150 electric cars, of which 44 have been already assembled. The price range are $5,200 to $5,900, depending on the model.
Paitití Mining Company (EMIPA), that extracts gold, copper, silver and wolfram, will close its operations for 10 months from 17 December, due to technological conversions. Herland Soliz, Energy Secretary of the Regional Government of Santa Cruz, regretted the company’s decision and said that it contributes with 65% of the mining royalties for the region. As for this year, EMIPA already payed $3.12 million in royalties.
Bolivia’s Hydrocarbons Minister, Victor Hugo Zamora, said that all oil & gas activities (exploration and exploitation) will be stopped in the Tariquia natural reserve in Tarija, south of Bolivia. He added the Government made the commitment to protect the reserve from oil activities but he acknowledged that this will not be an easy task as there are already contracts with hydrocarbon companies.
After the Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) temporarily suspended Bolivian Aviation Operations (BOA) of its eight classic Boeing CL 737 aircrafts in El Alto International Airport, the state-owned company will upgrade these planes to a 737 Next Generation (NG) version from the same manufacturer. The first plane is expected to arrive later this month and the second in November. The following six are expected to arrive in 2020.
